Hit the water with 2 of my buddies in "The Smokin Turtle around 5:20AM Tues. I was so excited to be out for the first time this year that I might of got 2 hours of sleep before leaving my house in Goffstown but hey, it's easy to get up and fish instead of working right! Anyway, Turtle was chugging away at 2.3mph (gps) with 2 riggers set at 13 ft and 20 ft. Shallow rigger I ran 100 feet back from the ball with orange and yellow dotted top gun. Deep rigger had vert and horz. blades with a pink dotted top gun about 7 feet back from last blade. Also ran 1 inline planer board with 2 colors of lead and bright orange top gun as well as a lead core line at 4 colors with a silver dodger and an AJ special orange fly. First salmon hit off the inline planer board at about 6:20, did a couple of acrobatic jumps and then bam....LDR!
Next one hit off the shallow rigger 20 min later. Turned out to be a very healthy 17.5 inch salmon. 1/2 hour later on the dodger and fly, a 15 inch laker put up a good fight and then while my buddy was fighting it, my 20' deep blade rigger went off. Now I've used a downrigger for the last 2 years at Winni and usually when it goes off, the line rises along with the fish to the top and then you get alot of flying acrobatic fish. When this one popped, I'm not kidding, the pole and line jerked straight down 3 or 4 times and then blamo, fish off! After swearing a few times, I checked my gear and everything was still there. Nothing was gone except the fish so maybe my once in a lifetime fish was on for 4 seconds but I'll never know! Caught 1 more little 15.5" salmon on the same bladded rigger about 8:20 am and that was a bleeder so we kept him to eat. After that water went dead flat and fishing turned off.
Early in the afternoon my fishing buddy has his nice cruiser Chapparrel docked at Paugus Bay Marina and wants to take it out to test it for it's first 2010 maiden voyage. Now this boat does 3.5 mph just in gear so he wants to throw out a lead core line to see what happens. I said amuse me so over in Meredith Bay we went and start tooling around and after about an hour of dragging an orange mooselook around at 7 colors due to the speed of his boat, he hooks up a darn 18" fat rainbow! I of course couldn't believe it but as you guys well know, sometimes rainbows like it fast and I guess this one did. Beautiful fish released back to catch another waterskiing lure another day! HAHA
In closing I'd just like to say how much I enjoy this board and I'm sad to see that some of the guys aren't posting anymore. I don't mind posting what I did because I used to be a novice fisherman in Winni and because of you guys, I've learned alot about lake fishing here in NH. I appreciate it and so do my 2 good fishing buddies. I usually can only get out twice a month if I'm lucky so I try to enjoy every minute of it whether I'm catching fish or not.
Also want to let everyone know that I bought a rubber net this winter and used it for the first time. I cannot believe the huge difference it makes in releasing the salmon unharmed as well as being minimally touched. If you haven't got a rubber net, please get one.
Well that's it, tight lines everone!
Matt Glauser
PS Had the pleasure of talking to Link from this board yesterday on the water! Thanks for the chat Link!
